Wood beams are a common structural component, particularly in residential buildings. Wood beams are commonly used as joists which span between two support points for supporting floors and ceilings.
Wood beams come in a variety of standard sizes, including 2.times.6, 2.times.8, 4.times.8, 4.times.10 and 6.times.12. Each size of beam has known and accepted characteristics of strength and deflection.
In designing a building, once the static and dynamic loads have been calculated the designer can select the size of the wood beam which will be used as the floor or ceiling joists. On selection of the size of beam, building codes and construction practices dictate the number and spacing of the joists.
In selecting the size of beam to be used a joist, the cost is a significant factor. Smaller size beams are generally less expensive than larger size beams. However, with smaller size beams, more beams are required to achieve the same load capacity. There is normally a trade off between the size of beams and the number of beams.
It would thus be advantageous if a smaller sized beam could be reinforced to increase the strength characteristics thereof in order to increase load capacity when used as a joist without dramatically increasing the cost.